The poet Kondratiy Ryleev was born on September 18, 1795, in the village of Batovo, located in the Petersburg province. His father was a stern man who was fond of gambling, resulting in the loss of all their property. Little Kondratiy was very afraid of his father, as he often beat his mother. To protect the boy from family conflicts, distant relatives of his mother sent him to Petersburg, where he entered a military school. He studied there from 1801 for 13 years. At the school, he had many friends who valued him for his honesty and fairness. Even in his youth, Kondratiy began writing poetry.

From childhood, Kondratiy Fyodorovich had to endure many hardships, which hardened his character as a future public figure and revolutionary. After graduating from the cadet school, he joined the military service and participated in numerous foreign campaigns. In 1818, he decided to retire and dedicate himself to creativity. In 1820, he got married and that same year wrote his famous ode "To the Temporary Ruler."

In 1821, Ryleev became an employee of the state criminal chamber in Petersburg, and four years later, he moved to work for the American-Russian Company. In 1823, he joined the "Free Society of Russian Literature." From mid-1823 for two years, Ryleev published the magazine "Polar Star." His home often hosted literary evenings. At the end of 1823, two works were published: a volume of historical songs "Dumas" and the poem "Voinarovsky." That same year, he became a member of the revolutionary "Northern Society." The "Dumas" included works such as "Oleg the Prophetic" and "Ivan Susanin." Ryleev himself said about himself: "I am not a writer, I am an ordinary citizen, like everyone else."

In 1824, he led a secret revolutionary society. In October of that year, he was wounded in a duel while defending his sister's honor. In early 1825, he participated in another duel, but this time as a second. On December 14, 1825, before the uprising began, Ryleev's house became the headquarters. Despite a serious illness, he went out to Senate Square with the rebels. That same night, he was arrested, but he continued to engage in creativity, even while in custody, scratching letters with a needle on paper. He was sentenced to death as one of the five main conspirators. In 1826, Ryleev was executed in Petersburg. To this day, it is unknown where the great poet and other executed Decembrists are buried. At that time, rumors circulated in Petersburg that they were buried on Golod Island.